The Witcher: Fans Are Finding Season 3 Lacking In Comparison To Previous Seasons
Things aren't looking too good for "The Witcher." After a disappointing Season 2, Netflix hoped to journey into Season 3 on a high note, but that doesn't seem to be working out for them. Henry Cavill's departure from the series has dominated the conversation surrounding the show, despite another batch of Season 3 episodes yet to hit the streaming service.
Although it remains to be seen how Liam Hemsworth will fare as Geralt of Rivia or even how long the show will last without Cavill, fans are ready to hit the eject button on "The Witcher," so Season 3 needed to be very good to get them to stick around. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case, as "The Witcher" Season 3 has a measly 33% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, with over 1,000 reviews.
To make the situation worse for Netflix, fans began comparing the quality of Season 3 to previous seasons, stating that "The Witcher" failed to rekindle its magic even with a larger audience and budget. On Reddit, u/Low-Ice-174 didn't want to see positive comments toward Season 3, writing, "To me, this season feels extremely low budget. Just watch S1 E1, and you'll see how cheap and empty the set feels in Season 3. I don't feel immersed at all." Unfortunately, many fans agreed with them.
Fans think Season 3 got off to the wrong start
Netflix is running out of time to ensure "The Witcher" fanbase sticks around, and Season 3 Volume 2 might be its last-ditch effort. On Reddit, fans continue discussing "The Witcher" Season 3's drop in quality, and if it continues, they may not even bother tuning in when the second half of Season 3 drops later this month.
U/crazycatlady323 thinks it was apparent from the opening scene that "The Witcher" had a drastic drop in quality in Season 3, which left them disappointed overall. "I think the wigs and makeup, some of the more elaborate costumes, and CGI all looked really bad," they wrote, saying the root of the problem lies in the writing and directing. U/lma09001 offered a similar opinion, saying, "I'm not sure if it's just the writing or also the directing, but there were a lot of scenes that came across really corny and inauthentic to me. It was really disappointing."
U/CU_NextTues feels like both the writers and the actors have given up on "The Witcher," calling the former cheap and the latter wooden. On the other hand, u/TraumaticE thought the acting was the only redeeming quality, while the writing destroyed the plot and dialogue, and the CGI wasn't helping at all. In what might be the nail in the coffin, u/RipErRiley wrote, "[The] episode felt more akin to 'Blood Origin' than Season 1. That is not a good trajectory."
Given how fans feel after only the first half of Season 3, it'll be interesting to see how Season 3 Volume 2 plays out, which seems like it'll be a real test to see if "The Witcher" can survive without Henry Cavill.